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NBC News
26 minutes ago
- NBC News
Outcry in Israel as Hamas releases video of emaciated hostage alongside starving Palestinian children
Outcry rang out in Israel over the weekend after Hamas released video appearing to show a visibly gaunt Israeli hostage alongside images of emaciated babies as international fury grows over the rising deaths of Palestinians from starvation under Israel's offensive and crippling aid restrictions. The video, which was undated and which NBC News is not able to independently verify, appears to show Evyatar David, who was one of around 250 people taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Standing in an apparent tunnel shirtless, David, who is 24, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents hostage families, appears markedly frail, his ribs and shoulder blades protruding through his skin. The footage was juxtaposed with images of small emaciated children, their bones poking out from beneath their skin, as the number of children dying from starvation in Gaza under Israel's offensive and aid restrictions continues to rise. Nearly 170 people in Gaza — more than 90 of them children — have died from malnutrition since the war began, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave, with the death toll climbing swiftly in recent weeks. Speaking at a rally in in Tel Aviv on Saturday, David's relatives expressed fears he could face the same fate, with his brother Ilay David calling on the Israeli and U.S. governments to "do everything in your power, by any means necessary" to secure his release, according to statements shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The footage released by Hamas came a day after another video released Thursday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which is also holding Israeli hostages, appeared to show Rom Braslavski, who was also taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, also appearing visibly withered. President Donald Trump' s envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with hostage families on Saturday and emphasized the Trump administration's commitment to returning the 50 hostages who remain held in Gaza, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. Of the 50 who remain held captive, just over 20 were believed to be alive as of late June, according to the Prime Minister's office. The forum quoted Witkoff as saying: 'We know who is alive, and someone will be to blame if they don't come out alive.' NBC News was not able to independently confirm the comment. The meeting came a day after Witkoff made a short and extremely rare trip into Gaza alongside Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, in a visit condemned by some as a publicity stunt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke "at length" with the families of the two men on Saturday night, expressing "deep shock" at the recordings released by Hamas, according to his office. In a statement, Netanyahu accused Hamas of "deliberately starving" both hostages and Palestinian civilians in Gaza by "preventing them from receiving aid." David's brother similarly accused Hamas of "starving him deliberately" during Saturday's rally. Israeli authorities have repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting aid from Palestinian civilians throughout the war. But multiple aid groups have said they saw no signs of aid diversion, while an internal U.S. government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft of aid supplies by Hamas, according to a report presented to State Department officials and later seen by NBC News. The Israeli military dismissed the report as 'biased.' Israel's deadly military offensive and crippling aid restrictions in recent months have caused the spiraling hunger crisis in Gaza, aid groups, including the United Nations, have repeatedly said. Israel launched a blockade that barred the entry of aid into the enclave in March, in the midst of its ceasefire with Hamas, before lifting it in May, but still allowing only a trickle of basic supplies into the territory. Last Sunday, the Israeli military said it would pause military activity in some areas to allow more aid into Gaza as it faced mounting international outrage over the spiraling hunger crisis in the enclave under its offensive. Humanitarian organizations have warned that while more aid has begun to trickle into the enclave, it is still not nearly enough to stave off famine. The world's leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said on Tuesday that the 'worst-case scenario of famine' was already unfolding the Palestinian enclave under Israel's deadly military offensive. It noted that its warning was an alert and not a formal 'famine classification.' Netanyahu has denied there is starvation in Gaza, despite the IPC's report and rising deaths from starvation reported by local health officials and aid groups. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. Since then, more than 60,800 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of children, while thousands more have been injured, according to the local health ministry, and much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble. Israel continues to face allegations of genocide in its assault in Gaza in a case brought before the International Court of Justice, while a growing number of experts and advocates have also accused the country of genocidal acts, a charge both Israel and the U.S. have rejected.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘I never would have allowed that': Fmr. Special Counsel on the DOJ's meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell
Trump's DOJ is currently under fire for relocating convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from a low-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas. Former Special Counsel to Obama Norm Eisen joins The Weekend to break down what Maxwell's move means for transparency in the Epstein case. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'I am willing to surrender for the hostages,' Iris Haim, mother of fallen captive, says
Haim wrote that Israel had essentially surrendered to Hamas for years before the October 7 massacre, and therefore, it is right to surrender now for the sake of the hostages. Iris Haim, mother of Yotam Haim, a hostage who was mistakenly killed by the IDF in Gaza, wrote on her Instagram on Saturday evening that in her opinion, Israel should surrender to Hamas in order to secure the release of the remaining hostages. Haim wrote that Israel had essentially surrendered to Hamas for years before the October 7 massacre, and therefore, it is right to surrender now for the sake of the hostages. "We surrendered to Hamas for 20 years – we gave and gave and gave some more. Now we must release those who can still be saved." "For me and my family, it's too late – Yotam won't return." "Surrender? I am willing to surrender – for the hostages. For the last shred of dignity that remains for families like mine, who still have hope." Haim spoke about her hope that the hostages would return. "For 70 days, I chose to believe the state was acting wisely to bring the hostages home. I kept up hope, assuming I didn't have the full picture and that the decision-makers were acting correctly." "And yet, the army harmed my son due to continued flawed assumptions that there were no hostages in that area. Still, I kept supporting and strengthening, so that our precious soldiers wouldn't be hurt." Regarding the stalled hostage negotiations and the state of the current hostages, Haim wrote, "What kind of negotiations are taking place now to release hostages who already look like walking skeletons?" Reaching a decision before it is too late for the hostages "We must make a decision today, before it's too late. I can't bear the thought of these children starving. Absolutely not. They must not be left here. This must happen – even if there is a price to pay afterward. We've already paid the heaviest price. "Rom, Nimrod, Evyatar, Alon, and all the other hostages – soon they won't have a chance. I refuse to let them die in captivity like my son."
